Cursed with a Blessing
by meggie6
Summary: Used to be Ice Age 3. Yes, there are dinosaurs in this story... unfortunatly. DiegoXOC MannyXEllie
1. Disclaimer

_**DISCLAIMER!!**_

_**I do NOT own Ice Age, Ice Age the Meltdown, or its Original Characters.**_

_**Ice Age & Ice Age the Meltdown © Twentieth Century Fox Animation & Blue Sky Studios.**_

_**OC Nelida © meggie6 **_

**_Enjoy my FanFic!_**


	2. Chapter 1

All she knew was that she was running, running for her life. Her heart pumping in an unbelievable rate as her senses went wild. She stopped for some reason, one she couldn't put her claw on and looked around quickly. She was ready to pounce as she heard noises in the shrubs and trees around her, but the saber backed quickly as her opponent was facing her.

It was nothing she had ever seen before, an odd creature with snake like skin that walked on its hind legs like a human. This was no human though; its incredible speed proved that no human could go as fast. Her eyes glanced at the razor sharp claw that came out of both of its feet and then back at the creature's snout. It had the head of a lizard, but its teeth were clearly shown as it seemed to smile at its new prey.

Making a strange high pitched squeal, it attacked the saber. As she could see all of its teeth and its large jaws come over her head she yanked her head up and jumped at least two feet in the air.

It was a quiet night when she had slept in a large grass field where no one could see her. She yelped loudly and looked around her wildly. The saber panted loudly and allowed small tears of fear to escape her eyes as she lay back down into the grass.

Most would say it was a bad dream, but she didn't have dreams anymore. Not even bad dreams. Nelida stroked her forehead lightly, where her fur was pure white and made a bizarre swirling pattern.

She slowly stood up and went through the grass, watching for the creature in case it was a near future event she had seen. The full moon filled the lake perfectly as it presented itself within the middle of the darkened sky. Nelida took a few laps of water and watched the ripples go over her reflection. As always, the ripples never changed the swirling pattern's reflection as the last one went over her forehead.

She sighed and looked to the stars. "Why was I cursed with this blessing?" She asked the heavens.

Getting no answer Nelida turned to the water once more, watching it reflect the stars as the water settled. She lay beside the lake and again sighed.

"I do hope that wasn't my death I just witnessed…" She whispered as sleep began to take over her once more.

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The sun's rays came over the hills and put its spotlight on a sleeping, snoring sloth. Grumpily Sid turned the other way as the sun hit his eye lids, but sat up and yawned as he stretched his arms. He smiled sleepily and looked over his friends.

Naturally Diego was gone, Manny and Ellie were sleeping side by side under a tree, and in the tree were the twin possums hanging on a nearby branch.

"A little early for _you _Sid." Diego complemented, scaring the sloth from behind.

Sid yelped lightly and eyed the tiger angrily. "Stop being so sneaky! With you and your kitty paws we can't hear you coming up."

"What I'm I supposed to do?" he asked as he sat on his haunches. "Stomp my feet so you know I'm coming?"

Sid smiled and stood up happily, "That's actually a good idea!"

Diego rolled his eyes and glanced at Manny and Ellie. He wondered if he should wake them up, but decided Manny would be up soon anyway. Sid sighed half heartedly and smiled bubbly.

"Aren't they cute?" He cooed.

"You're asking a saber if something's _cute." _Diego said. "Think about it."

"Seriously! Come on you've gotta have a soft spot for _something."_ Sid gave him a super large hug, "Other than your best buddy!"

"Please stop touching me." He groaned.

"Careful Sid, he's not declawed you know." Manny mumbled as he was waking up.

Sid let him lose and held his hands up for defense as Diego held his claws up for warning.

"Let's declaw him," Crash said as he bounced off of his sisters head. "just to see what he'd do."

Eddie rolled his eyes as Diego tried to kill his brother and patted Ellie's head.

"Wakie, wakie sis. It's time to get up." He said in her ear.

Ellie yawned broadly and slowly got up, but suddenly her mood prepped up and she smiled widely. "What's the plan for today fellas?" she said.

"I saw a lake up ahead, but I also saw another saber-tooth by the bank. I think he was a loner--"

"Why?" Sid interrupted Diego.

"He was sleeping, most sabers stay with the pack at night. We need to go south if we're going to go to the ocean."

"So it's settled then? We're going south. Are you sure we should be going south Diego?" Manny asked.

In return Diego shrugged, "Truthfully no, but it's a shot until we actually fine someone who can tell us."

With that he turned and started leading them south. Crash sat beside Eddie on one of Ellie's tucks and groaned.

"He's gonna get us lost."

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"Face it! You don't know where to go!" said a voice in the distance.

Nelida turned her head in the direction of the noise and swiftly followed it. After a moment she came up to a mammoth, wait _two _mammoths, a sloth, and two possums. She crouched in a bush and watched, being as curious and nosy as she was. She jumped slightly as a large tiger, about her age, fell from the tree above her. Luckily he didn't fall on her or spot her but Nelida kept perfectly still as he was talking.

"I know where we have to go. The ocean can't be very far from here." He said.

One of the possums went up to the saber in front of her and crossed his arms, "What makes you think that?"

Nelida's eyes widened as she realized he was actually _talking _to this group. Like they were his pack or something.

"_Being a loners bad and all, but I would never stoop so low as to talk to my food." _She thought as she smiled, trying not to laugh.

"Well what are we gonna do? We don't even know which way to go!" the female mammoth said.

The saber trotted back and forth for a moment and then sighed, "I'm going to scout around and find _someone_ to tell us which way to go."

"_Gosh, everyone knows to go east. How stupid can you get?"_ she thought as she watched the other saber-tooth run off.

"_They must be from the other side of the ice wall; I've never seen this weird group before." _She furrowed her eyebrows as the sloth was being tormented by the opossums.

"_Although I think I've seen the tiger somewhere before. I can't put my paw on it though…"_

She turned her head in the direction that the other saber went and crawled in that direction until she was out of sight, and out of earshot of the herd.

"Might as well, not like I have anything important to do at this moment."

With that she followed the male's tracks slowly, keeping her head down low so he couldn't see her in the distance.

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**_Yay! my first Ice Age FanFic! R&R please!!_**


	3. Chapter 2

"Run Saber! Run for your life! There's a saber!"

All of the animals in the field ran for it, pushing their little ones away quickly as Diego ran around trying to get their attention.

"No, no wait! I'm not trying to eat you! I need help… Ahhh, crap." He mumbled as he looked around.

All of them ran, and now all of them were gone. He growled angrily.

"As soon as one of those _leaf eaters_ see me they all scream and run! They don't seem to have a problem when Manny's with me…" He sat on his haunches and grumbled.

"I should have made Sid ask for directions… If he could find someone who wouldn't run away from _him_…" Diego got up once more and looked around, "I guess I better find someone who won't run away from me."

Diego started on his way before suddenly getting the feeling he was being watched. He stopped right in his tracks and listened for anything behind him. The sound he got was much more than he expected.

"If you're having such trouble getting directions from _leaf eaters_, why don't you ask a _saber_?" said a soft voice behind him.

Diego turned in time to see the female get out of the shrub slowly, trying not to show as a threat. This tiger was obviously about his age by the size of her canines and her voice, but she was probably the strangest saber he had ever seen.

Like most females her age, she had a small figure from hunting and continuous running. Her fur was a creamy color, which was normal, but on her forehead was a weird symbol of some sort. The symbol was pure white, which was strange because white was an unusual color for a saber. Her eyes were dark green, which were highlighted with her light fur texture. The strange thing was; he could have sworn he had seen the eyes before.

She lightly sat on her haunches and smiled kindly, "Go east until you see a large river. Once you get there you follow the river north-east and it will lead you to the ocean. There will be a large rock that separates a water fall that enters the sea, keep to the south side of it. The northern side belongs to the River Raiders, a group of wolfs. They take unkindly to intruders."

Diego gave her a weird look and raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I was going to the ocean?"

The saber shifted her eyes cautiously and looked him straight in the eye.

"I overheard your… _pack_. You have an interesting group of friends there."

"You stay away from them." Diego growled warningly.

The cream colored tiger eyed his claws for a moment and slowly backed up, "I am only a loner… do you think I would try to take on _two _mammoths?" She asked as she stopped.

"But in reality," She took a step towards Diego and bared her canines, "I'm not afraid of _you_."

Diego bared his sabers defensively, but recognized the voice as she said that and backed down slowly.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

The female also backed down, but kept her guard up, "Depends, what is your name?"

"Diego…" he said, glancing once or twice at her exposed claws.

Her eyes lit up excitedly and took a step forward, "Diego? From the mountains? Son of Gwendolyn and Victor?"

"How do you know my--"

He looked at her eyes once more and something had clicked. The saber smiled as the realization showed on Diego's face.

"Nell?" He asked.

Nelida chuckled lightly and shook her head, "No one's called me that in years, but yes."

She slowly circled Diego and laughed in amusement.

"Wow, what happened to you? You were itsy, bitsy baby Diego when I saw you last." She commented.

"What happened to _me_? What happened to _you_, Nell? All of your baby fat's gone."

"Yep, you still have yours though." Nelida said as she patted his shoulder, "Don't feel bad, a little more exercise and--"

"That's not fat, that's all muscle right there." Diego retorted.

Nelida smiled and glanced at her claws, "Sure, just keep telling yourself that."

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Sid waved a leaf lazily side to side, being bored out of his mind. Once again he sighed loudly and plopped on his back. He watched as a leaf fell from the tree above him and fall right on his nose, causing him to cross his eyes. He grabbed the leaf off of his face and sighed again as he rolled on his side.

"Sigh one more time and I'll throw you into a pond and throw rocks at you." Manny mumbled as he threw some leafs at him.

The sloth stood up and brushed some twigs off of his fur, "I'm gonna find Diego."

"Don't get lost, honey! Stay close!" Ellie called after him.

Sid waved behind him and started following Diego's tracks. As he was walking after his foot prints, he realized that there were two different foot prints. One was smaller and didn't go as deep into the forest floor, but he immediately knew they were tiger tracks.

He didn't exactly think about it much, (seriously, how much does Sid actually think _thoroughly_ about things?) but the farther the other tracks went the more he wondered if Diego was in trouble. Then a fleeting thought entered his mind; maybe there was a female following him?

Sid had never thought of his buddy as an ugly guy… you know, for a tiger. It was probably _possible _that he _could_ get a mate, but ladies and Diego didn't exactly match.

"_Yeah right, like Diego would really want to get a girlfriend like right _now_… when is tiger season anyway?"_

As he thought this, he heard the undoubtful sound of a female's giggle. Sid raised an eyebrow and followed where the noise had come from. As he came up to an open field where most deer grazed, he gasped when he saw who was in the field.

It was none other than Diego, and wouldn't you know it he was talking to another tiger. Sid's eyes got wide as he realized he had been right.

"Go Diego!" He whispered.

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**_Yeah, I made up his parents names... just go along w/ it for now._**

**_Don't ask how they no each other, I'll explain in the next few chapters..._**

**_R&R Please!!_**


	4. Chapter 3

Nelida's ears twitched to and fro as she heard a small noise in the trees behind her. Diego noticed her strange reaction and gave her a questioning look.

"I think one of your friends are here…" she said casually.

Diego looked over her shoulder slowly and saw a large blur hide behind a tree. He chuckled as Sid looked back over the tree to see if he was still looking, but accidentally made eye contact with Diego and dashed back behind the tree.

"Yeah, his name's Sid. He's the sloth." He replied quietly.

"Oh, does he usually follow you around?" Nelida asked.

Diego's ear twitched as he saw Sid fall, trying to get behind another tree. Nelida glanced at the trees and stifled a laugh.

"Yep, and he's usually this clumsy too." He groaned.

They heard a few cracks as Sid tried to climb a nearby tree, but obviously fell out of the tree and hit a few branches on the way down. Nelida covered her mouth with her paw as groans and mumbled words were heard from the sloth. Diego rolled his eyes and went around Nelida and towards the trees.

"Sid, stop trying before you kill yourself." He called.

Sid's head popped out of nowhere and he pulled himself up slowly, fiddling with his claws.

"He he, so you saw me?" he asked.

"Umm, yeah." Diego replied.

Sid looked around Diego strangely all of a sudden; Diego looked over his shoulder to see that Nelida was doing the same. Sid gave him a cheeky smile while Nelida was giving him the "well-now-what?" look.

Diego stepped out from between the two and cleared his throat.

"Sid this is my _friend," _he gave him a warning look at the particular word, "Nelida."

"And your name's Sid?" she asked.

Sid backed up quickly as she took a step forward, but smiled all the same. "Yep. Soooo, what's your relationship with my buddy? Hmmm?"

Diego slapped his face with his paw and Nelida eyed the sloth uneasily.

"Friends." she said plainly, "_Just_ Friends."

Sid shrugged and gave his signature cheeky smile, "Okay, okay. Whatever you say."

Diego sighed in annoyance, "I know where to go now, so just go with the others and I'll catch up."

"Ohhhh, okay." Sid backed into the trees and held a thumbs up, "You want some _alone _time, I get it. Have fun you two."

As soon as he was pretty far away Nelida started laughing up a storm.

"You have one weird _buddy_." She laughed.

Diego rolled his eyes, "You have no idea. It's worse when they're _all _together."

Nelida smiled mischievously and stood in front of Diego.

"I want to meet the rest of them."

"What?" he choked.

"I want to meet the rest of your _little crew_." She started to follow Sid's path, "And you can't stop me."

She bolted after Sid, Diego following shortly as he tried to talk her out of it.

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"I'm serious guys! Diego has a girlfriend!" Sid complained

"Sid, are you sure she's not just a _friend _of Diego's, like he _told_ you she was?" Ellie pointed out.

"But she's a _girl _who is his _friend!_" He continued.

Manny shook his head and sighed, "Diego's gonna kill you if you go around saying he has a girlfriend."

"Oh, please! Continue telling us about Diego's new _special friend. _It's getting very interesting." Eddie said as he waved a hand to him.

"You want me to be killed! I see how it is!" Sid whined, "But you should have seen the way they were acting! It was true love right there!"

Right as he said that two sabers crashed through the tall grass. They recognized Diego, but they didn't know the cream colored saber that he had pinned down.

Panting heavily the female laughed, "I still beat you! You tackled me down and I still got here! Ha!"

"See! I told you Diego was in love!"

Diego looked up at the five pairs of eyes staring directly at him and immediately got off of Nelida. She got up and smiled smugly at him.

"_I hate you." _he mouthed to her.

She smiled and nodded, "_I know." _She mouthed back.

"Hi, I'm Nelida." She introduced. "Diego told me _all _about you guys."

Diego glared at her angrily and growled under his breath, but she ignored it.

Crash came up to her and scratched his chin, "What's up with your forehead?"

As if she was protecting it, Nelida covered her mark with a paw and glanced guiltily at the ground.

"I'd rather not talk about it…" she replied slowly.

Ellie slapped the back of Crashes head and smiled at Nelida, "So you're Diego's friend?"

The female smiled lightly, "Yeah, we met as cubs and knew each other for about a year."

"Well what happened?" Eddie asked.

"His pack went into the valley you just came out of. Diego was actually born in the valley's mountains up north. Didn't he tell you that?" Nelida replied as she turned to him expectantly.

Diego shrugged, "I didn't exactly remember where I was born, so I couldn't really tell them…"

The tigress nodded, "That's why you didn't know where to go. Go east and then follow the upcoming river north-east."

You could practically see the light bulb light up above Sid's head as he cooked up a plan.

"Why don't you be our… ya know, tour guide. So we don't get lost and stuff." He started.

Ignoring Diego's death stare, he took a step forward as Nelida was considering his invite, "Besides, you seem to know _a lot _about this valley. And you could show us some cool things on the way… what do you think?"

"Well, I guess I--"

"Great, show us the way!" Sid interrupted happily.

Nelida gave him a strange look and glanced at the sky, "I know where we could stay for the night. But we have to start going east _now._"

She turned east and started through the forest with the others following shortly.

"Can we trust her Diego?" Manny whispered.

Diego glanced at Nelida and nodded, "I would trust her with my life." He assured.

Manny nodded and caught up with Ellie as Diego fell back with Sid.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked the now happy sloth.

"It worked for Manny didn't it? So I'm sure it will work for you, buddy! Don't worry; she'll be falling all over you in no time!" Sid replied.

"Be lucky I don't eat sloth." Diego retorted harshly.

The saber growled lightly and bounded to catch up with Nelida up ahead. Sid cupped his mouth and called to him up at the front.

"You're Welcome, Diego!"

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**_I declare this chapter, a sucky chapter!_**

**_But w/e, R&R Please!!_**


	5. Chapter 4

"So... Sid's trying to play Match-Maker with us?" Nelida asked while holding in a laugh.

"Yes, and he will stop at nothing to do just that." Diego replied, "It's not funny either."

"Oh come on, like we'll actually end up being mates by the time he's through with us."

"It's happened before." Diego said as he gestured his head in Ellie and Manny's direction.

"Seriously? You're practically _letting_ him play with your mind. We're just friends you know. Don't let him get inside your thick skull of yours." Nelida said.

"Besides," she added cheekily. "I won't be in heat until _next _season."

"Gah! Too much information, Nell! Seriously!"

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It didn't take long for them to get to a large cave that Nelida had led them to. It was just starting to get dark when Sid went to collect the wood for fire, while Diego and Nelida went hunting.

"I like Nelida; she's a very sweet girl." Ellie said as the subject came up.

Manny shrugged, "You never know about these things though. She could always be leading us into another pack like Diego did when we first met him."

"Well that's how you met him right? In the end he was your friend, maybe Nelida is gonna be our friend." Ellie added.

Eddie jumped from a nearby tree and lay on Manny's head. "What if Diego leaves with her?"

"Diego? Leave us? No way." Sid said as he threw a few twigs in a pile, "He would never leave us, we're a herd."

"Don't you think he, _at least, _misses being with tigers? He never stopped talking to Nelida on our way here." Ellie asked.

Sid picked up two rocks and scraped them together, creating his fire. "Yeah, but they're _friends."_

"Sid I'm serious, he _will _kill you, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to help you." Manny responded.

"Personally, I'll cheer Diego on!" Crash snickered.

Eddie gave him a high five and quickly dodged Ellie's trunk. The shemmoth sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.

"I'll try to help you if Diego wants to kill you Sid." Ellie assured. "I actually think that Nelida would like to stay with us. I overheard their conversation and turns out she's an outcast."

"Really?" Sid asked, "Why?"

"Don't know… it had something to do with a… sheman--"

"Shaman." Nelida corrected.

Diego and Nelida had come back from their hunt, and had obviously overheard what they were talking about. Nelida lay beside Ellie while Diego took his usual place beside Sid. The cream colored saber sighed and looked at the fire in the center.

"Yes, I'm an outcast. And the word you overheard is pronounced Shaman." She began.

"What's that?" Ellie asked her.

"A Shaman is a human who is more connected to spirits than most humans. They're usually story tellers in a human village and give spiritual enlightment. Most of them can actually communicate with us." Nelida answered kindly.

"What does that have to do with you?" Crash asked as him and his brother sat closer to her for a story.

Nelida glanced at Diego who also seemed to be interested in the part of the story that he had not been told about. She stroked the forehead again, following the swirling pattern with her claw and took a deep breath.

"About five years after Diego's pack had left, I was sent after a group of humans and I was to report where they were headed if they had changed toward the packs direction. So I had been following them very closely, a little too closely. They never saw me, except for one. An old woman had seen me and knew I was there for at least a month, but she didn't alert any of the other humans. For a while she would just watch me and would make eye contact with me. I didn't really pay much attention to it, but one night she actually approached me."

"Oh, this is getting good." Crash commented.

"Shhhhh!" Eddie replied as he elbowed him in the ribs.

"She got close enough to touch me, and then… I don't know what happened. She pressed her hand on my forehead and then I started seeing all of this stuff about humans. How they acted, how they learned, how they felt. It was so strange. Then she was… _talking _to me, and I could understand what she was saying. She said I was a good spirit and I would get a gift."

"What did you get?" Sid interrupted.

Nelida shifted her eyes guiltily and looked at the others watching her.

"That's the thing, when we separated I got scared and ran. When I got back to my pack they looked at me strangely and told me about the mark on my forehead. When the leader, Nesto asked what happened he freaked out. Nesto is very superstitious and thought that I would curse the pack if I stayed. So he banished me."

"Because you had a weird mark on your forehead?" Manny asked.

"No, because of my _gift."_Nelida whispered.

"What is your gift though?" Sid pressed.

Nelida closed her eyes and sighed, "I can't have dreams anymore… and when I _do_ dream, it's not a _dream..._ It's my future."

Everyone had been silenced for a moment, taking in what they had heard. Eddie stood up and faced Nelida.

"So let me get this straight… you can see into the future when you sleep… and the guy banished you for seeing the future?" he asked.

"Yeah. He believed that seeing into the future would corrupt evil spirits and that they would curse him and his pack."

"So every time you sleep you see the future?" Ellie asked her awestruck.

"Not every time. Only every once and a while, mostly when to moon is either full or gone. So when I don't have a vision, I don't dream. I just wake up in the morning."

Ellie patted her back in a supporting gesture, "I think that's cool. That you can see your future and stop bad things from happening."

"No. What you see is what you get. If you fall out of a tree in a vision, even if you avoid climbing trees, you will fall out of a tree. This is why it can also be a bad thing. Like if you see your death… you die…"

Nelida faded off as she remembered the vision she had last night. Was it really her death? Or will someone save her? Or was it someone else's death? All she knew was that whoever it was was a saber. She didn't really know if it was her or not. She glanced at Diego who was obviously thinking of something as he stared at the fire.

A horrible conclusion came to her mind.

"_Either I'm the one who is going to die, or Diego is…" _

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**_Yay! More sucky chapters for everyone!_**

**_R&R Please!!_**


	6. Chapter 5

Morning came quickly for Nelida, having no vision that night.

"Thank Lord." She murmured quietly as she sat up.

Everyone was asleep still, even Diego was still asleep. Nelida listened to the birds around her and closed her eyes, thinking about the previous vision she had. There had to be some way to know who it was. God forbid if it was Diego, but it was scary thinking about it as her own death.

She questioned telling the others, or at least telling Diego. No. The last time she told someone their future, they went nuts and stayed in a cave until it was safe. Which-in the end-killed him from starvation and thirst.

"He was already crazy anyway," Nelida whispered quietly.

She looked down at her paw as a lizard climbed on it and stared at her. It vaguely reminded her of the creature that had killed, whoever it was, in the first place.

Its emotionless eyes still pierced the back of her mind, and the teeth would show in her mind at times.

"What was that thing?" She seemed to ask the lizard on her foot.

It tilted its head slightly as if it had understood her. She smiled at it and shook her foot lightly, making it jump off and run back into the trees. She watched it crawl into a tree, its eyes still on her. She raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior and turned back to the others. She sighed.

"What kind of creature has giant claws on its feet? It was fast too, seemed like you couldn't run away from it." She whispered to herself.

"Velocorapter."(Sp?) Said a small voice.

Nelida turned around, seeing nothing but the lizard behind her. She looked at it strangely.

"Did you say that?"

"Duh." It replied simply. "You're talking about a Velocorapter."

"A what?" Nelida asked, a little dumbfounded.

"A dinosaur?"It replied "You know, Rawr? Gone extinct? Look like giant lizards?"

Nelida raised an eyebrow, "But their extinct."

"Yeah, I know that. You were the one describing it."

"Oh, yeah. Ummm- I saw one yesterday. Yeah, and I didn't know what it was so… thanks."

The lizard looked at her strangely and shrugged, "Whatever. Don't eat crazy animals from now on. 'Kay?"

With that it scurried away, not looking back at the strange saber. Nelida huffed lightly.

"I like lizards better when they don't talk…"

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Nelida and Diego were gone by the time Manny had woken up. He gently nuzzled Ellie's trunk with his, waking her up. She mumbled a few unknown words and looked up at Manny lovingly.

"Morning grumpy." She whispered jokingly.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

Ellie smiled and looked around, "Where are the _love kittens_?" she asked.

"Hunting I guess." Manny replied.

Ellie got herself up, stretched her trunk out and yawned.

"Ya know, just because two tigers disappear doesn't always mean they're _hunting._" Ellie pointed out.

"Then what are they doing?" Manny asked suspiciously.

"Oh, ya know. Tiger stuff."

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"No!" Nelida yelled from the bank, "You're not getting me into that water!"

She gasped as Diego threw water towards her, barely missing it. Diego was in the lake, only half of his body actually in the water. He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm not in that deep, Nell." He tried to explain.

"Once I get in there you're gonna pull me in further. I know how you are, Diego." She retorted.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad. You're not _scared _are you?"

"_Scared? _Yeah right. I just don't like the water in my fur and having to clean off all of the dirt that collects on it later." Nelida complained.

Diego sighed and placed his mouth in the water, filling it just enough. He went up to Nelida and sat beside her quietly. She wasn't looking at him, but thought he was upset. At that moment, she felt like a party pooper. She turned to talk to him, but only got her face covered in water. Laughing up a storm Diego ran for it.

"_**You're so dead!" **_she called as she also ran into the water.

Slipping in the mud as they went they ran through the water, splashing up mud and lake weed on each other. Soon they both were covered in weed and mud and soaked to the skin. Shivering slightly, Nelida panted at the bank and grunted.

"Great. I look like a weed monster." She joked.

"Yes you do." Diego said as he passed her.

Nelida rolled her eyes as Diego turned to go back into the water and swim a bit, to get off the mud on his fur. Nelida followed, but didn't go as deep as he did.

"What's the madder? Can't swim?" Diego called teasingly.

"No actually." She replied naturally.

"Just claw and kick."

"Where did you learn that from? A three year old?" She asked as he approached her.

"Something like that. But yeah, that's how you swim."

Nelida raised an eyebrow and turned as they heard Manny's voice through the trees. She shrugged and sighed.

"Maybe later. 'Kay?" she asked as she got to the bank.

"Yeah. Sure."

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They went a good distance in the first few hours, but after a moment the others got tired. Forced to slow down, Nelida took the time to talk to Ellie. Every once in a while she would regret it; Ellie would constantly bring up Diego. Diego this, Diego that. Diego said this about you, Diego said that about you.

Once in a while it was interesting, but when it got to "Honestly, do you like Diego _more _than just a friend?" Nelida would always say no.

It got her thinking though; thinking about the vision. The saber stopped because of something… what was it? Someone had said something. She couldn't remember what it said, but it said something. Something important.

Whatever it was, made the person feel a particular feeling. The same feeling she had when Diego had left with his pack, years ago.

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_**JSYK, I'm making this up as I go along practically. so right now, I don't know what's gonna happen either!**_

_**R&R Please!! **_


	7. Chapter 6

Most of the morning went by slowly, even with Sid's constant singing. The ocean was pretty far away from their current position, but by noon they had gone a pretty far distance. Begged by Sid and the possum brothers, they stopped for a break. Luckily, Nelida knew a very fun place to stay for a while.

Mud, everything was mud. The whole hill side was covered in it, including areas where people were previously sliding, making slides that were covered and filled with mud. Crash, Eddie, and Sid immediately ran to the scene once it was in site, slowly getting to the tippy top and tumbling in mud.

"What have you done?" Diego asked in shock.

Nelida smiled deviously, "Something horrible. Just for you guys." She replied as she laughed evilly.

"Gee, thanks a lot." Manny moaned.

"Oh, come on Manny! Can we slide down too? Please? _Please? __**Please?**_" Ellie whined.

"But we'll be _covered _in mud." He replied.

"Uh, that's the point." She said, not getting what he really meant.

Nelida giggled lightly at her response and with Diego beside her they watched the two mammoths bicker.

"Oh come on! It'll be fun! It's better than log rolling 'cause in mud sliding you won't fall off of a log! _**Please?!**_" Ellie continued.

"It's silly, only children do that stuff." Manny explained.

"But you don't want to be a boring adult all your life! Come on. I really, really, really want to!"

"You can go then--"

"But I'll be alone!" Ellie said sadly.

"You can go with Nelida here--"

"She wants to go with Diego!"

Nelida smiled, "Speaking of which, come on Diego!"

"No." Diego said flatly.

"Please?" She asked in a sweet and soft tone.

He looked from her to Manny and then to Ellie and sighed, "Okay."

Nelida looked shocked for a moment, but then shook it off and led her prisoner to the top of the hill. Ellie looked at Manny with a "why-can't-you-be-like-that?" look. Manny sighed and mumbled a few words. Finally he looked at Ellie again.

"Fine." He groaned.

"Yes!" Ellie cheered as she pulled on Manny's trunk, forcing him to go up the tall hill.

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"It didn't look that steep at the bottom…" Diego said as he looked at the bottom.

Nelida looked back at him from the piece of bark they were sitting on. It almost seemed to be tipping toward the side of the hill, with only Diego's weight keeping on the top.

"Scared?" she asked teasingly, mocking him from the swimming thing.

"No. Just saying, it didn't look so steep."

"Whatever." Nelida said as she scooted the bark forward.

"Wait!--Ahhhhh!"

Down, down, down they went. Picking up speed and throwing up mud everywhere. Even hitting some people on other slides while their mud was hitting them. They both screamed all the way down, but only Nelida was actually enjoying it.

"Hey guys!" They heard from beside them, and it was none other than Sid.

Both pieces of bark were going the exact same speed, both gliding across and through the mud in a parallel line. But it didn't stay parallel for long as they all realized their paths crossed and they both crash landed into a giant mud puddle.

Sid popped his head out of the mud and looked around. Right beside him Diego and Nelida popped out of the thick mud.

"Wow! That was fun, huh?" Sid cried.

"Wanna do that again Diego?" Nelida asked the shaking saber.

"If I lived through the first one… I guess I could--"

"Yes! Come on Sid! Race you up the top!" she cried as she started through the mud.

Sid nudged Diego's shoulder as he got out of the mud puddle, "She's a keeper."

Before he could answer they heard Manny and Ellie screaming. As they passed by, a tidal wave of mud came crashing by completely covering anyone within ten feet.

"That was awesome!" Said Eddie as he finished riding the wave with his brother.

"Dude, let's do that again!" Crash exclaimed.

Diego groaned as he looked down at himself, he was caked with mud from head, to tail, to paw.

"Great, I'm gonna have to clean this off… Somehow."

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Nelida quickly jumped into the bubbling spring, letting the hot water engulf her and take off all of the dried mud left from this afternoon. She sat neck deep in the water and looked at the waning moon above her. She sighed and looked at the constellations around the moon. She had learned the strange collection of stars from the old Shaman, and somehow had memorized all of them.

Right now the one they said looked like fish was in the sky today. Pisces, they called it.

She didn't get it; it didn't even look like two fish. And the name didn't sound like fish either for that matter. Maybe the humans couldn't see very well… whatever the case; the humans had quiet strange imaginations.

"May I join you?" Diego said from behind.

Nelida didn't even turn around, "Sure, come on in." She said slowly, sort of out of it.

Diego sat beside her in the water and looked at the moon, "Is it full?" He asked.

"What?" Nelida asked, a little confused.

"The moon. Is it full?" He repeated.

"No. It was full two days ago."

"Oh."

"Yep."

Diego looked around as an awkward silence took them in. He dunked is head into the spring water, wiping the mud off with a paw. Nelida smiled and pushed his head in further, making him pull his head up in surprise.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"It was getting boring." She replied.

Diego splashed water on her face furiously, making her scream in surprise and start to swim away. As she got to the deeper water, however, she started panicking and tried to keep her head up. Noticing this, Diego swam beside her and tried to hold her up with a paw.

"Claw and Kick, Nell. It's not that hard." He said, trying not to go under himself.

Soon Nelida calmed down and started swimming into the shallow water. Once she got to the shore she smiled.

"Thanks Diego."

Diego smiled lightly back, "No problem Nelida."

She gave him a weird look, causing him to get a little nervous.

"What?"

"You called me Nelida." She said slowly.

"Well that is your name, isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah, it is. It just you've always called me Nell."

"Well, we're not exactly cubs anymore. You don't have to go by the baby name I made up for you forever."

Nelida smiled and followed as Diego started heading for the cave they are staying at. She walked beside him rather than behind him and looked at him shyly.

"Do you, umm--wanna go for a walk or something?"

"Uhh--sure." He replied.

Turning on a different path, Nelida led them into the night.

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_**Can't think of what should happen next. But, must continue…**_

_**-Dies on key board-**_

_**Please R&R to revive me!**_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Authors Note: Sorry about the holdup guys! My first year in High School has been difficult and a major writer's block came out of nowhere! Anyway, here's the 7**__**th**__** chapter. Enjoy and R&R Please!**_

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Two blue birds flew quietly across the darkened sky, both soaring around each other like they were rehearsing a beautiful ballet. As they chirped happily, they both landed on a small branch and nuzzled each other sweetly as the moon shined above them. All was quiet until…

"Attack!"

There were multiple screams until finally Sid fell in front of the tree the two blue birds were resting on. With small chirps they flew away.

"Do you guys _have_ to shoot me with those things? They really hurt you know." Sid complained as he brushed the dirt off of his fur.

"Well we can't find Diego." Crash said with a shrug.

Eddie crossed his arms and hummed thoughtfully, "I think he's on a date with Nelida."

"Yeah. I saw them a few minutes ago." Sid said. "In fact I started following them until you two came and attacked me! Can't you pick on other possums?"

"Nope."

"Nah."

Crash smiled, "Besides, you scream funny."

"Do not!" Sid yelled angrily.

"Do to!" Eddie replied. "See I'll show you." He said as he raised his pea shooter.

Immediately Sid did "the scream" and ran off with the two possums shooting after him.

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The moon reflected perfectly on the nearby lake like a mirror, showing its beauty as its side was gradually waning each night. The night was perfectly still and peaceful as two figures walked quietly in the bank. Wading in the warm water with their paws moving the lakes surface around them, they listened to the quietness around them.

Nelida looked at her reflection, the moons rays reflecting and shining in her eyes. Her mood saddened as she looked at the mark on her forehead, and it's never changing mirror image. Sighing, she watched the ripples go across and around the lake.

"_I have to tell him _something _about the vision. One of us is going to die… he deserves to know it might be him, right? But what if he panics, and tries to run from it? How could I tell someone they might die?!"_

Nelida snapped back to reality as Diego cleared his throat. She smiled at him as he gave her a confused look back.

"Nelida, are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just thinking is all." She replied as she looked back at the water.

Diego raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled and looked at Diego. Suddenly she stopped and felt a strange feeling in the back of her head as she gazed deeply into Diego's emerald eyes. Soon the feeling increased and something strange happened.

"_She's keeping something from me, I just know it…" _Said Diego's _voice,_ but his lips did not move.

"What?" she whispered quietly.

Diego gave her a strange look, "I didn't say anything."

Nelida blinked rapidly as the confusion showed in her face. Many thoughts ran through her mind like a flooded river. Some not her own.

"_Something has been bugging her lately, and she won't tell me what it is." _Diego's thoughts said sadly. _"Perhaps she doesn't trust me after all."_

"I do trust you." Nelida whispered to him.

He gave her a surprised look and slightly backed up, "How'd you do that?" He asked.

She looked at him sadly and looked down at her reflection briefly before turning to him once again.

"I… I think I can read minds." She said in a small voice.

His eyes widened and he asked, "Has this just started happening to you?"

"It's never happened to me before…"

Diego looked at her strangely and sympathetically as ushered his head to the shore. Sitting beside an oak tree he waited for Nelida to sit beside him. She sighed and looked to the water that rippled in the breeze.

"It's so strange; ever since that incident I've never seen life the same way." She said sadly. "I'm tired of people asking me "what happened to your forehead?" or "why is that thing on your head?" or "what's up with the swirl?" I get so upset about how people look at me. I just want to disappear, or get rid of this stupid curse." She whispered.

She looked at the ground at her feet as small tears started falling.

"Some people think it's cool. It's not. I hate it." She whimpered, "For three years a stupid rumor had been going about, saying I was a witch. All these years I've tried to find a different pack, but they shoo me away like an evil spirit."

Diego listened to her, wishing he could do something. He couldn't though; he couldn't take away the gift she had been given. He couldn't completely understand what she was going through either, for he had no such gift. He felt worthless as he sat there, watching his friend cry with the horrible situation on her conscience.

It only made it worse for Nelida knowing that she still knew what faith held for one of them, and still hadn't told Diego.

"You're not evil, Nell, and you know that." He said softly.

"And how would you know that, Diego? I could just as well be evil, having these horrible visions, screaming at night. I even look like some evil spirit with the sign on my head. Sometimes I just want to die!" She whispered.

"You're not evil." He argued. "And you shouldn't _want_ to die… Plus you actually look very beautiful…"

Nelida felt her cheeks redden and she quickly looked away from the saber beside her, suddenly feeling bad for wanting to be rid of her life.

"But now I can read minds as well." She added. "What's that going to do to me? What are others going to say about me now?"

Diego sighed, "Why do you care what others think of you? You know who you are, that's all that matters, right?"

Nelida turned to him and smiled lightly, "Yeah… I guess." She whispered.

"Why do you think this just now started happening to you?" Diego asked after a moment of stillness.

Nelida shrugged and glanced back at him, "Perhaps because I've been a loner for so long…" she replied. "That could be why I couldn't read anyone else's minds, because no one would ever dare to get near me."

As she said the last part she could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she looked away again.

"If it makes you feel any better," Diego said softly. "We can keep this between you and me."

She smiled at him and wiped a tear off with the back of her paw. "I'd like that." She whispered.

Without another word, Nelida tenderly nuzzled him affectionately. At first Diego was somewhat shocked and a little embarrassed, but then he returned the gesture and lightly licked the top of her head lovingly.

Nelida sighed in content, but in reality she was even more upset. Now it didn't matter who will die, either way they'll lose one another.


	9. Chapter 8

Yawning as he stretched, Sid looked around. At first he didn't notice the one thing that was different, but suddenly his jaw gapped open. Not only was Diego _still_ sleeping, but he had his head on top of Nelida's and they were so close together that there were no spaces between them. Covering his mouth, he laughed and practically choked on his spit. Slowly he tip toed toward Manny and tapped his trunk to get him to wake up.

"What?" Manny grunted sleepily. "Sid? What do you want now?"

Sid put a claw to his mouth and gestured in the direction of the two sleeping tigers. Manny just smiled and shook his head.

"Leave them alone Sid." He whispered.

"Aww, but they're _so_ cute!" Sid cooed.

"What's so cute?" Ellie grumbled.

She opened her eyes and looked around, seeing the two tired sabers she cooed quietly, "Aww, look at the cute little tigers."

Manny rolled his eyes and stood up, "They won't be very happy when they wake up and see you staring at them like that."

They all froze as they saw Nelida's ear twitch to and fro. She moaned a little and snuggled closer to Diego, making him move a bit and finally they both stopped and their breathing went back to a slow, steady tempo.

"Aww, now that was just downright adorable!" Eddie said from a tree branch above.

"Yeah, it made me want to puke." Crash commented in jest. "Let's poke the cute kitties."

"Yes, lets." Eddie said as he jumped from the branch and got a long twig.

"They're going to kill you." Manny yawned indifferently.

Eddie shrugged and slowly went up to Diego. He started rubbing the edge of the tip against his ear, making him wipe it furiously. This went on for a moment before he finally covered his ears with his paws and put his head beside Nelida's.

"Aww guys, just leave them alone." Ellie whispered.

Crash paid his sister no attention and started blowing on Nelida's face. Now if you have a dog, you know they hate it when you blow on their face. Same goes for just about everyone else, especially when you have horrible morning breath. Nelida's face scrunched up and she growled lightly as she swiped at the air in front of her.

"If she kills you, I won't feel sorry for you." Manny grunted. "If you want to live you should probably stop."

Eddie and Crash both snickered as Nelida started mumbling a few unknown words, apparently not at all listening to Manny or Ellie. Ellie rolled her eyes and they left quietly, hoping that they wouldn't be badly injured when they came back.

"Stop before I kill you." Nelida suddenly mumbled as she tried to snatch one of them.

Crash and Eddie ran off and hid behind Sid, "Look who's awake!" Sid said cheekily.

Nelida stretched and yawned loudly. "Be lucky I woke up and not Diego." She grunted as she sat on her haunches, "I'm too tired to chase after low lives."

"And why are you so tired?" Sid asked suspiciously. "What did you and Diego do last night?"

"That's for me to know and for you not to." Nelida said as she started grooming herself.

"Oh really?" Sid said, "I thought you said you and Diego were "just _friends"_ no more, no less."

She seemed unfazed as she continued grooming her shoulder, "And?"

"Well I've never seen friends sleep that closely together." Eddie said casually.

"You and Crash seem to sleep pretty close together." She replied coldly.

Crash shrugged, "We're brothers, that doesn't count."

"Whatever." Nelida said as she cleaned one of her legs.

Sid sat down and crossed his arms across his chest, "Sooo… what _did_ you two do last night?"

"You already asked that question, and I already answered it." She said casually.

"Could you give us a better answer?" Eddie asked.

"Why yes I can." She said coolly, "But I won't."

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Once everyone had woken up and gotten something to eat, they left for the road. Ellie and Nelida were happily chatting in the front. Crash, Eddie and Sid were whispering mischievously in the back. Diego and Manny were silent as they walked in between, until Manny cleared his throat.

"So… what went on last night?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing." Diego said calmly.

"Oh come on Diego. I understand why you would not tell Sid, but I don't have as big of a mouth as he does."

Diego shrugged, "Well it went better than your first night with Ellie, I can tell you that."

Manny's eyebrows furrowed as Diego chuckled lightly at his angered face. "That's the number one rule for sabers; _never _bring up that subject on a first date--"

"Oh, so it was a date?"

"I never said that." Diego grumbled in defense. "Just saying."

"So nothing went on last night?"

"Nope."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

Manny eyed the saber suspiciously and shrugged. "I still don't believe you."

"Don't have to." Diego said. "Besides, Nelida isn't in heat until next season."

"I heard that!" Nelida called from the front. "If you tell them stuff like that about me then I'm gonna have to tell them all of your secrets!"

Diego spit his tongue out at her and mocked her in a girlish voice, causing her to do the same and giggle lightly. He heard the three behind him snicker and he rolled his eyes.

"Keep acting like that around her and no one will believe you." Manny grunted.

"No one does anyway."

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Ellie gave the saber beside her a strange look and chuckled, "So you're just friends, huh?"

Nelida gave her a sheepish grin and turned back to Diego, who was currently talking to Manny.

"I can't lie to you can I?" she grunted.

"Nope." Ellie said happily.

"Too bad I can't stay with you guys long." The tiger whispered.

"What?"

"I'm only a danger to you guys, trust me. I've put people in danger before, its better if I leave after you get to the ocean."

"But why? Why can't you stay with us? What about Diego?" Ellie argued.

"I'm sorry, I just can't. Okay?" Nelida said sadly.

"So after all of this you're just going to leave?" Ellie asked angrily.

"You don't understand." The saber sighed. "The longer I stay, the more dangerous it is for you guys."

"Why can't you just tell me?" Ellie asked.

Nelida shook her head, "I'm sorry Ellie. I really don't want to go. But I don't want to put you guys in danger either."

Ellie shook her head sadly, "Diego's gonna be heartbroken."

"Me too." Nelida said quietly.

"Then don't go." The shemmoth said angrily.

Nelida just shook her head and closed her eyes sadly. Ellie sighed and shrugged.

"Think about it some more at least." She said. "I think everything would be better if you didn't leave."

Nelida just sighed as Ellie stopped and waited for the other two to walk with her. Looking ahead she thought about the vision once again. Perhaps leaving them would make everything better and she really hoped that it wasn't Diego in the vision. It would be easier if it was her, and not him.

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**_Ummmm... no comment today... huh._**

**_anyway, R&R!_**


	10. Chapter 9

The sound of water rung in Nelida's ears as she walked beside the large river. Every so often she would watch large fish swim toward the ocean, but mostly kept her mind on the vision. She could chose; stay and tell Diego of the vision, or leave and never return. An old friend had told her once "listen to your heart, what does it say?" but every time she would listen, it's like her heart stops. As if it was also confused about the upcoming events.

Why was it so difficult? Why couldn't she just leave? Or tell him _something_ of the vision... but life would always be difficult, even for a tiger whom was bred into the strongest pack in the valley.

"Nelida?"

She turned to see Diego, who was trying to catch up with her. She slowed down and forced a small smile.

"We're almost there. We'll be there right when the sun--"

"Nelida, Ellie said you wanted to leave when we got to the ocean." He said questionably.

She looked down guiltily, "Trust me. You don't want a fortune teller around you guys. There are plenty of sabers that want to kill me because of it; I'll only put you in danger."

"We haven't been in danger yet." Diego pointed out.

Nelida shook her head, "_Yet. _You still could be though."

"We've been in worse situations--"

"I just can't stay with you guys, okay? I just can't!"

With that she quickly swerved into the woods and ran. Diego watched her go for a moment until the others caught up.

"What in the world did you say to her, Diego?" Sid asked.

Diego growled lightly, "Nothing, let's go. She'll catch up."

He started following the river more, but not without turning to see Nelida run farther into the forest. Sighing, he led the herd toward the ocean.

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Nelida ran only a short distance as she came up to a small lake. She lay beside it, trying to calm herself down a little. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes.

She thought about Diego, about the vision, about the stupid shaman that had given her the gift in the first place. Everything seemed to fall apart on each other, just barely holding up for the moment. Slowly her thoughts became blurry; she was falling softly into sleep.

Nelida didn't fight as she saw the darkness form around her, and then suddenly the river was in front of her. She looked into the river and saw herself, her face full of concern and worry. She faintly heard roars, the roars of the water fall that led into the ocean water. Nelida looked over and saw the land disappear in the distance, the drop that led the rivers waters down.

Suddenly she heard screams, trumpet sounds from mammoths, and a roar that was much like her own. She ran, ran for what seemed like hours and finally came to a small area that connected to the ocean cliff.

There she saw it, the Velocorapter. It was running quickly, running after a saber.

"Diego!" she heard from her own voice.

The saber turned to her, right as the rock beneath her gave way and she fell.

Nelida woke up when she saw the ground come close to her face. The sky was darkening and her fur was covered in sweat as she stood up and looked around. Now she understood.

She had seen _Diego's _death that night. Her death had just been revealed to her.

They were both going to die.

Panicking, she had nothing else in mind but to find Diego and somehow stop this from happening. Immediately she sprung from the trees and ran down with the river. Her destiny would happen rather she went to save Diego or not, she decided not to run from it. She was tired of running.

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"Wow, look at that!" Ellie said cheerfully.

The sun was just setting above the horizon, casting beautiful sun rays across the ocean waters. They were beside the water fall which roared gleefully beside them.

"Yeah, it's okay." Manny grunted.

Diego looked around as he heard a noise behind him, but didn't see much between the thick trees. He glanced at the others who had not heard the strange sound.

"Sure, beautiful. We need to find somewhere to stay before it gets dark--"

"That would be easier if you didn't get Nelida all upset and made her run away." Crash said casually.

The saber merely blinked and looked away from the possum. Seeing this as a problem, Crash turned his attention to him.

"Oh gosh, Diego. Gee I'm sorry dude that was so uncalled for."

Diego grunted in reply and started looking for a way down the cliff. Crash glanced at his brother guiltily.

"Was it something I said?"

Eddie rolled his eyes, "Duh."

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**_Gosh, this is the shortest chapter I've ever written..._**

**_whatever, R&R please..._**


	11. Chapter 10

"Diego! Hey Diego! Wait up buddy!"

The saber sat on his haunches angrily as Sid quickly walked up to him.

"Gosh, you tigers walk really fast." Sid said between breaths.

Diego ignored the comment and continued his path on the side of the gorge that fell into the ocean. Sid glanced at the thick forest beside them as he heard a rustle; nervously he fiddled with his claws as he looked back at his companion.

"Diego? Do you feel like we're being watched?" He whispered.

"No." The saber replied bluntly.

Sid watched the forest carefully, still not seeing anything between the trees. He scratched his head in udder confusion and took a quick look back at the others behind them. They didn't seem to notice anything. He looked ahead as they came up to a large ramp that went down onto the ocean sand. It was just right, big enough for both Manny and Ellie to walk down on.

"Hey guys! We found a ramp to the ocean!" Sid called back excitedly.

They waited for a moment, letting the others catch up. Manny nodded in approval.

"Good job tiger. Sid." He said.

Suddenly they all froze as they heard movement in the trees. It sounded like human foot falls, but the shape it had was strange. Like a lizard on two feet. It came out slowly, looking at them with blank cold eyes.

"What the heck is _that_?!" Crash exclaimed.

The thing turned in his direction and released a high pitched squeal. Diego growled threateningly, hoping it would scare it off, but from the creature's right two other ones came.

The three of them glared at the herd as they moved in closer.

"Ummm guys, I think we should run!" Sid said fearfully as he hid behind Manny.

Just as he said that one of the things attacked. It flung at Ellie, but at the last minute Manny grabbed the creature and threw it off of the cliff. This caused the other two to go insane. One ran full speed at the sloth, while the biggest one went after Diego.

Acting on reflex, the saber roared in surprise and ran into the forest. He went as fast as he could, dodging logs and trees as he ran, but the thing was gaining on him as he began to tire out. Diego, not knowing where he was going, turned sharply in the opposite direction. He hoped it would throw off the beast, and it did, only momentarily of course. Once again it was on his tail, and avoided everything he tried. Suddenly he could see the ridge in front of him.

If he went there, he would be cornered. So he tried to turn again before something caught his eye.

"Diego!" He heard.

He turned to the voice just in time to see Nelida fall off the edge. Devastated, he stopped and looked at where she had fallen.

"No! Nelida!"

Suddenly he realized he was cornered between two trees, and the thing…

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She saw inside a spacious cave from a bird's eye view. She could tell from the green grass that it was early spring for pink and white flowers covered the outside of the cave entrance. Inside the cave she saw her and Diego, happily talking together as they wrapped themselves around about five small bundles of fur.

"What do you think about Maria?" Diego asked.

"Maria… I like it."

"Which one will that be?" He replied.

Nelida lifted a claw and stroked a particular fur bundle that was Diego's exact fur color. It meowed sweetly as it stretched itself out and tried to claw at its mothers paw. Nelida chuckled at the cub.

"This one."

Diego smiled.

Unexpectedly she was in her own body again, looking at a young female tiger that could have passed for Diego's twin sister. She had his eye color, fur pattern, fur color, everything. Except for a small swirl on her right shoulder that was identical to the one on Nelida's forehead.

The tigress looked stressed out and upset as she sat in front of her.

"Mom," she whispered. "I… I think I can see the future…"

Again another vision showed; this time the same tiger was standing on a large rock looking down on a group of fairly older tigers and a few younger tigers. She was defiantly older than she was from the last vision, for her sabers were fully grown. Now she was an adult.

She looked down at the pack and said, "My mother had the same gift… the gift that is also a curse. It takes great responsibility to tame this irritation. Although many sabers say they fear it, they don't. They just don't understand it. This new pack will spread eventually and many will learn that this is not something of evil spirits, angels, or good spirits. This was a gift that my mother and I were chosen for. Although we are selves do not fully understand why we were given this endowment, we know that we were given it for good. And this pack alone can change the way others think of difference."

"Yeah!" "Here, here!" some sabers said.

"Let us change, for a new beginning!"

Together the pack roared as the sun set behind them.

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_**Muahahahahahahahaha! Cliff Hanger!**_

_**R&R Please!!**_


	12. Chapter 11

"Is she okay?"

"I sure hope so."

"Is she hurt?"

Nelida opened her eyes slowly, seeing nothing but blurs and colors.

"Hey, she's awake!"

Gradually she started seeing some shapes in the darkness around her. The first thing she saw was two emerald eyes locked with her own.

"Nelida? Are you okay?" Diego asked uncertainly.

"Diego?" She whispered.

He nodded and slowly everything started to click.

"Diego!"

Nelida jumped up from the ground and nuzzled him lovingly, ignoring the fact that the others were watching.

"I thought you were dead." She said sadly to him.

"I thought you were too, we all did." Diego replied.

Nelida looked around; they were in a small cave near the ocean. It was night time and Sid had already started a fire.

"What happened?" she asked surprisingly.

Crash shrugged, "You fell." He said observably.

Nelida rolled her eyes, "I know that much. But seriously, what happened?"

"Manny saved Diego at the last second." Eddie said excitedly. "Its teeth were right over his head when, _bang!_ _Swoosh! _Manny pounded him with his trunk and threw him like he did the others."

Nelida sat beside Diego, who had settled down alongside Sid.

"Yeah it was awesome!" Crash added. "We went to see if you were alright. You were still breathing so we found a cave to stay in."

The saber shook her head in surprise.

"Wow," She breathed. "and this whole time I thought…"

Nelida paused, wondering if she should continue.

"Thought what?" Diego asked.

She shrugged, "Nothing, don't worry about it."

Nelida figured that the whole thing was over; he didn't really _need_ to know now. Perhaps later, but not now. She yawned and looked out at the star covered sky.

"When are you leaving?" Ellie asked sadly.

Surprised, she blinked and looked at Ellie in bewilderment.

"What?"

"You said you were gonna leave because it was too dangerous to be around us." The shemmoth replied.

For a moment, Nelida thought it as a good idea. Other sabers didn't take to kindly to her and her "ways". If the pack she had come from found out about her friends, they would take it as an act against nature. They would be in danger, even if the vision was wrong.

Then she remembered the strong, spirited young saber she had seen in her latest vision. She was almost identical to Diego in so many ways. Even if she did leave, one way or another that vision would come true.

She smiled sheepishly, "I can take a risk." She said softly.

"Yes!" Ellie cried happily.

"Aww, I knew she wouldn't leave!" Sid said as he went up to give Nelida a hug.

Diego chuckled as Nelida's nose wrinkled up in disgust.

"Please. Stop. Touching. Me." She gasped.

Sid let go and sat back down beside Diego and sighed, "So… what next you two? Pups perhaps? Hmm?"

Manny rolled his eyes, Ellie, Crash and Eddie laughed up a storm.

"_Cubs _Sid." Manny said slowly. "Baby tigers are called _cubs._"

"Whatever, you get the point." Sid said idly. "Well what will it be _love kittens_?"

Diego shook his head, "No Sid. No _cubs._ You alone is enough of a headache for me."

Nelida laughed nervously, "You'd be surprised…" She whispered.

Diego was about to answer until the ground started to shake. Everyone looked at each other in surprise and fear. Slowly the sabers got up and crept around the cave opening.

Nelida gasped, "You've got to see this." She spoke softly to the others.

Little by little everyone went around the corner, each person taking their own intake of breath.

"What are they?" Ellie asked quietly.

Eating the top branches of a giant tree was a large animal. It looked like a huge cow with lizard like skin and a very long neck. Its legs were as big as tree trunks; every step it took shook the ground slightly.

"It's a dinosaur!" Manny breathed.

"But they're dead!" Sid exclaimed.

Nelida shook her head, "The things that attacked us were dinosaurs too." She whispered. "They've come back somehow."

She was interrupted by a loud hum the dinosaur made. It echoed around the valley, and soon the same sound repeated from other dinosaurs. It turned and walked slowly away. Nelida smiled as she saw the baby walk beside it, practically stumbling on its feet as it tried to catch up to its towering mother.

"I don't think we need to worry about the ones like that though." Manny said, "It's a leaf eater."

"Yeah," Ellie said softly. "Did you see that cute little baby?"

"Wasn't it adorable?" Nelida cooed.

Ellie laughed and nodded as she turned back into the cave. Diego sat down beside Sid, who was getting comfortable on his bark bed. He looked over at Nelida as she lay beside him.

"What did you mean, 'You'd be surprised?'"

Nelida chuckled as she yawned. "You'll see. Not very soon, but you'll see some day."

"Was it a vision?" He pressed.

"Maybe, maybe not." She said sleepily.

"Can't you just tell me?" Diego asked.

Nelida smiled, "You're lucky you know. Life is full of surprises, and you get to experience that. Me on the other hand, I usually see it before it happens. So my life isn't as fun as yours gets to be."

"Does it have something to do with cubs?"

The saber rolled her eyes, "Just think of it as a favor. Life wouldn't be fun if I told you your future every time I see it."

Sighing in defeat, Diego placed his head on his paws.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" He mumbled.

"It's the future…" She whispered.

As she said it she fell asleep, thinking fondly of what was awaiting them. Through bad or good times, she would no longer run from the gift. She had it; she might as well embrace it.

For once Nelida smiled in her sleep, and for the first time in three years she had a dream…

Then again, what are dreams? Just riddles of what you hope for the future…

_**The End.**_

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_**Don't worry, the story will continue… just not under this title. :)**_

_**TTYL! **_


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